The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee

Today I will be reviewing The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee. This is Lee's debut novel, having previously been an editor at Elle Magazine. Let's see if she should have stayed in fashion, shall we.

I'm a little unsure where to start with this book since I found it a bit disjointed. But I shall do my best. We will start with the title character. Claire is newly married and newly arrived in Hong Kong where her husband is an engineer overseeing the building of a water reservoir.

The year is 1952 and Hong Kong has recovered remarkably from World War II and been placed safely back into British hands as a colony. Claire barely knows her new husband (she married him to escape her overbearing mother) but being British herself, is quickly introduced into Hong Kong's colonial society. An accomplished piano player, she accepts a position with a wealthy Chinese family, the Chens, teaching their daughter, Locket, the piano.

It is through her position as the piano teacher that she meets Will Truesdale, the Chen's British chauffeur. Will and Claire quickly and unceremoniously begin an affair with each other. However, Claire is blissful ignorant of Will's past during the war. And also blissful unaware that she is, through her relationships with Will and the Chens, inserting herself into a long simmering conflict that is about to come to a head.

The book alternates between Claire's story in 1952 Hong Kong with Will's story in 1941 Hong Kong. Will arrives in Hong Kong with no real plans to stay, until he meets Trudy, a beautiful and vivacious half Chinese, half Portuguese heiress. Will and Trudy fall madly in love and enjoy a life of leisure and privilege together, going to all the most glamorous parties and restaurants. That is, until war breaks out and the Japanese invade Hong Kong. The Hong Kong and British militaries surrender after only a few short days and Hong Kong is plunged into violent Japanese rule. Will, as a British citizen, is placed in a kind of prison holding camp for foreign citizens of governments that opposed the Japanese. Trudy is allowed to stay on the outside due to the favor of a new Japanese "benefactor".

It is here that the book takes a turn toward a more intrigue and war time double cross filled story line. Prior to this point, the book had been more of an insight into Hong Kong colonial society - the dinners, the opulence, the amahs (Chinese female servants). It almost becomes a different book entirely. I guess that could have been the author's intention given that Hong Kong became an entire different place once the war broke out. It could have been a way of paralleling the story to the history.

The book definitely provides a very interesting look into British colonial society. Half a world away from "the Mother Country", British citizens set up their own little mini British communities in these colonies. Hong Kong was no exception. Wealthy Hong Kong Chinese were educated in Britain and often described as being more British than the British themselves. Because of their wealth, they were allowed into the British colonial society but they were few and far between.

The book also provides a startling look into the cruelty and barbarism of the Japanese toward the people they conquered during WWII. I've read a few other novels set during this time period - both in Hong Kong and Shanghai - and none sugar coated the atrocities that occurred at the hands of the Japanese. I'm sure this is the case with all wars, regardless of the nationalities, and maybe it's just the fact that I've read more books about the Japanese during WWII but it seems they were particularly barbaric and inhuman. Truthfully, I don't care to broaden my horizons on this front and actually wonder why I have chosen to read so many novels that deal with these subjects in the first place.

Overall, as I said before, I found the book disjointed. The two stories never seemed to converge logically. Claire, the title character for god sakes, never really seemed to fit into the overall plot and it made me wonder why the author had chosen to include her story at all. The pre-wartime and post-wartime story of Will and Trudy was much richer and more compelling. It was just confusing.

But the writing itself was lovely. Lee has a knack for describing scenes and characters and especially the clothing the characters are wearing but we would expect no less from a former Elle Magazine editor, now would we. So I give The Piano Teacher three bows. It truely was fair to middling. Neither good nor bad, neither hot nor cold. You get the point.